Israel Shahak (person)

Israel Shahak (1933-2001) was a scientist as well as an activist fighting for Palestinian civil and human rights. He strongly opposed the Israeli apartheid policies both in Israel and abroad. He has been one of the most important activists in exposed the racist ideology of the 'jewish state' that was created and has been supported by the United States for over 50 years.

He was born on April 28, 1933 in Warsaw, Poland, to an Orthodox Jewish family. He was captured with his parents by the Nazis in 1943 and imprisoned in the Poniatowo concentration camp. While he escaped with his mother soon after, his father died there. They were arrested again later that year and lived through two years at the Bergen-Belsen camp.

After the war they emigrated to Palestine, which was occupied by the established state of Israel in 1948. Shahak served briefly in the army in the mid-1950s. He received his doctorate from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem in 1961. Two years later he began his tenure there as lecturer and then professor of organic chemistry. He was voted best teacher year after year by his students, and he gained international recognition for his research into cancer treatment.